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Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a formal floor step rather than a policy debate. It mentions members such as Timothy Patrick Sheehy.
Official title: UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST
Issued
April 30, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, we saw last weekend a terrible event and, yet again, a product which is of a self-governing society, which is sometimes—we get mad at each other, and sometimes that anger expresses itself at our elected leaders in tragic ways—in a third assassination attempt against our President at a venue that we also saw President Reagan, over 40 years ago, also was attacked at this venue. Unfortunately, that attempt was almost successful. Thank God it wasn't.
the course of our Republic, and that is part of what comes with being a self-governing nation—is that things can get messy. And, unfortunately, that is a reality of democracy and of living in a Republic.
the most powerful Nation in the history of the world, we should be able to have events in our Nation's Capital anchored by our President of either party, of Cabinet Members. We should be able to host heads of state without the expectation that gunfire will erupt at our places of gathering, that our Nation can host other nations here without them having to worry about being gunned down at an event that is hosting the President of the United States.
own people, but also members of our government who are protecting and leading the greatest Nation in the history of the world.
make additions to Federal facilities, particularly the White House. And the ballroom project has long been considered by Presidents of both parties throughout the years. And the White House has been modified by Democrat and Republican Presidents alike, to make sure that our residence for the head of state can be safe, can be efficient, and can be a place of honor to host foreign heads of state, as well as our very own citizens.
ruling that the President did not have the authority to do this. This is incorrect. The President does have the authority.
be able to have a head of state, an elected President of the United States, that can host events in a safe, secure location; that can host an appropriate number of people and not have to worry about violence erupting.
safe and secure location entirely funded by private donations. No taxpayer dollars are being spent. At a time when we are worried about our national debt, our ballooning debt, and we are trying to explain to Americans how we are going to make their lives more affordable, we should not be spending their money on a project like this, and we are not. This is private donations.
enshrine the already existing right of this White House—of any administration, of any President of either party—to make modifications to the Presidential residence. And in this case, modifications that are for the express purpose of a safe, secure venue, paid for by private donations, not taxpayer dollars.
donor can receive favorable treatment from any administration or any legislative body in exchange for these.
greatest economy in the history of mankind. These are companies who recognize they are lucky to be American companies doing business in our Nation, and they are giving back to this great Nation by helping ensure our head of state can host functions in a safe, secure, and world-class venue.
I ask for support for this bill. I ask for support for the American President to be able to host world-class events because we all deserve to be safe and secure, and this facility never has been so needed than the events last weekend illustrated, but now is the time to do this. I hope this passes. I hope my colleagues allow this to pass so we can green-light this project to move forward.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of my bill, which is at the desk; I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid be upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Oregon.
Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
favorite project of the President. It is a massive, giant ballroom to be built on the ruins of the East Wing, the “People's House.”
essential, but this project was not conceived as a security project. It was conceived as a massive ballroom so large that it turns the White House into an auxiliary
dwelling unit. It is like the big mansion is the ballroom, and you have this little, tiny house one-fourth the size that is the White House. That is this gilded project the President was undertaking to put his Louis XIV “I am a monarch” stamp on the President's grounds. But we took an oath to a Constitution that doesn't have a monarch, and it doesn't have a King, and Trump is not Louis XIV, so I have a number of concerns about this.
private donations; however, a number of his colleagues have been advocating fiercely that it be paid for out of our Treasury.
Certainly $400 million buys a lot of support for education and housing and healthcare—24,000 kids going to Head Start, 52,000 children being able to benefit from childcare, and the list goes on.
dinners, but we already have a great place for State dinners. We have the State Dining Room at the White House that seats 140. We have the East Room that seats 200. And State dinners are intimate affairs— appropriately so—a conversation between leaders of our House and Senate and the executive branch, along with the leaders visiting from overseas—not a massive “Let's turn out 1,000 people or more” because of the size of this. Recognize that this is a 3.6 million-cubic-feet ballroom—about four times the volume of the White House. So State dinners certainly aren't a justification for this.
legality issues found that there wasn't authority for the President—in fact, this very bill being proposed by my well-intentioned colleague from Montana creates the legal authority that is lacking, and that is why it is being proposed—to be able to create that framework that makes it possible to overrule the court's ruling. But that judge did find that the security work being done below level could proceed because that part was related to the President's security.
inaugurations. I am going to tell you that is probably one of the worst ideas President Trump has ever come up with—hide away the inauguration in a ballroom as opposed to doing it on The Mall.
whole lot more people attended Obama's inauguration than his inauguration, so maybe he wants to see those moved inside to avoid any future embarrassment as he ponders whether he is running for a third term, which is not allowed under our Constitution. But what this type of ballroom does do—it is a massive fundraising scheme—a massive fundraising scheme. You can seat 1,000 people at once, all those people who make those massive donations and all of their friends, all those people who donate to campaigns. Oh, let's invite them to come be at this massive ballroom. But that is not a great idea.
Philip Kennicott put it this way:
Trump has previously been unable to convince the American
public that the White House needs an ornate entertainment
venue that would dwarf the historic mansion. Now he seeks to
convince them he can't be safe without it. This suggests he
plans to leave behind not just a radically transformed White
House complex but a different conception of the presidency.
And what is that conception? That conception is the President has the powers of an authoritarian ruler—of a King. They have a fancy name for it; it is called a unitary executive. And the President has proceeded to utilize 10 different strategies to undermine the checks and balances of our Constitution.
Mr. President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
The Senator from Ohio.